Observation/Reflection #1: Starting From the Beginning
During this observation, focus on how class begins. Where is your CT before class begins? What is he or she doing? How and when does your CT establish order and begin class? How is homework from the previous night reviewed/collected/assessed? How does your CT engage students during the opening of the lesson?
Observations:
This visit to my CT was at Gaudet Middle School in Middletown. I arrived half way through one of the classes and was greeted by all the students with loud hellos with some popping their heads out of sweatshirt hoods like turtles. My CT, Mrs. Howell, had told them I was coming earlier in the period and she said they were very eager to meet me. On that welcoming note I watched as Mrs. Howell was in the middle of going over a worksheet the students had just finished in groups. She had the correct answers on an overhead and she walked among the students' tables reading off the answers and explaining them. When there was just a few minutes left in the period, she asked the students to take out their planners and write the homework assignment due for next class as seen on the board. Since the assignment was to write a possible procedure for finding the mass and volume of a cylinder of water, she further explained the assignment because not everyone understood what was meant by the term "procedure". When this period got up to leave, Mrs. Howell walked back to the front of the class greeting and instructing students coming in for the next period to take a paper from the box she had just placed on the front desk. As she did this she took attendance and instructed students to read the paper and write down their response and any ideas, facts they found interesting from the articles. All the students quietly followed the instructions while I answered some questions for those who were still unsure of what to do, and Mrs. Howell walked around and checked the homework assigment from last class. When she had finished checking homework, Mrs. Howell gathered the attention of the class by saying, "pencils down, and eyes up here, please". Today's class was continuation of an Alka Seltzer lab from last class so Mrs. Howell had the students take out their composition books and look at what they had completed. The students had already gathered the data so Mrs. Howell refreshed their memories by asking what they observed in the experiment and to talk to a neighbor about why they think they saw what they did. As she walked around she helped steer the students in a way to the correct explanation then asked them to write what they had just discussed in the next section of their composition book with the heading, "Explanation" because, as she said, this is where you try to make sense of the results so you can explain them to someone who hadn't performed the experiement.
Reflections:
From what I observed I believe Mrs. Howell has a pretty effective strategy for maintaining a classroom and keeping the students attention focused on what they are supposed to be doing. At this time, semi-early in the year still, she has started to establish norms for the class, such that they will always have something (handout, overhead, video clip) that they have to write a response to with at least five ideas taken from their observations. Knowing this about each class, students get into the routine of having something to do the moment they get in their seats instead of talking, fooling around, waiting for the teacher's instructions. The only instruction she gave was to take a paper for the response activity and most students knew exactly what to do. I also thought it was great that Mrs. Howell was prepared for the next class by being a the doorway and greeting each student. This way she engaged them and took an interest in each individual. It's up to the teacher to address the students first or they may not feel the need or feel comfortable to address her with questions or when she needs their attention later during class. I like how Mrs. Howell didn't collect the homework, but walked around to each student to check it out. This is another way that she personally enagaged each student because she asked and answered questions about the homework while the others quietly wrote about the "response" article. When she finished going around she was ready to begin the lesson. Though I did not attend the first few classes, I am sure Mrs. Howell established the importance of, "pencils down, eyes up" because not one student did not follow this instruction. She reminded the students of the lab last class, which gets them thinking, "what did we do?" and had them take out their composition notebooks where the information was collected, which shows then where they left off. I think the words Mrs. Howell chose when addressing the students really helped them understand what they were doing. Instead of standing in front of the class explaining each step, she gave a short introductory step, then let the students figure it out for themselves. She did not leave them to fend for themselves after, but walked around the class observing and interjecting when she thought necessary if the students were becoming distracted or loosing the idea of explaning the results. For the most part, no one went off track and students talked to eachother and figured out on their own how to explain the data. This was an example of a well-managed class. 7
Observation/Reflection #1: Starting From the Beginning
During this observation, focus on how class begins. Where is your CT before class begins? What is he or she doing? How and when does your CT establish order and begin class? How is homework from the previous night reviewed/collected/assessed? How does your CT engage students during the opening of the lesson?Observations:
This visit to my CT was at Gaudet Middle School in Middletown. I arrived half way through one of the classes and was greeted by all the students with loud hellos with some popping their heads out of sweatshirt hoods like turtles. My CT, Mrs. Howell, had told them I was coming earlier in the period and she said they were very eager to meet me. On that welcoming note I watched as Mrs. Howell was in the middle of going over a worksheet the students had just finished in groups. She had the correct answers on an overhead and she walked among the students' tables reading off the answers and explaining them. When there was just a few minutes left in the period, she asked the students to take out their planners and write the homework assignment due for next class as seen on the board. Since the assignment was to write a possible procedure for finding the mass and volume of a cylinder of water, she further explained the assignment because not everyone understood what was meant by the term "procedure". When this period got up to leave, Mrs. Howell walked back to the front of the class greeting and instructing students coming in for the next period to take a paper from the box she had just placed on the front desk. As she did this she took attendance and instructed students to read the paper and write down their response and any ideas, facts they found interesting from the articles. All the students quietly followed the instructions while I answered some questions for those who were still unsure of what to do, and Mrs. Howell walked around and checked the homework assigment from last class. When she had finished checking homework, Mrs. Howell gathered the attention of the class by saying, "pencils down, and eyes up here, please". Today's class was continuation of an Alka Seltzer lab from last class so Mrs. Howell had the students take out their composition books and look at what they had completed. The students had already gathered the data so Mrs. Howell refreshed their memories by asking what they observed in the experiment and to talk to a neighbor about why they think they saw what they did. As she walked around she helped steer the students in a way to the correct explanation then asked them to write what they had just discussed in the next section of their composition book with the heading, "Explanation" because, as she said, this is where you try to make sense of the results so you can explain them to someone who hadn't performed the experiement.Reflections:
From what I observed I believe Mrs. Howell has a pretty effective strategy for maintaining a classroom and keeping the students attention focused on what they are supposed to be doing. At this time, semi-early in the year still, she has started to establish norms for the class, such that they will always have something (handout, overhead, video clip) that they have to write a response to with at least five ideas taken from their observations. Knowing this about each class, students get into the routine of having something to do the moment they get in their seats instead of talking, fooling around, waiting for the teacher's instructions. The only instruction she gave was to take a paper for the response activity and most students knew exactly what to do. I also thought it was great that Mrs. Howell was prepared for the next class by being a the doorway and greeting each student. This way she engaged them and took an interest in each individual. It's up to the teacher to address the students first or they may not feel the need or feel comfortable to address her with questions or when she needs their attention later during class. I like how Mrs. Howell didn't collect the homework, but walked around to each student to check it out. This is another way that she personally enagaged each student because she asked and answered questions about the homework while the others quietly wrote about the "response" article. When she finished going around she was ready to begin the lesson. Though I did not attend the first few classes, I am sure Mrs. Howell established the importance of, "pencils down, eyes up" because not one student did not follow this instruction. She reminded the students of the lab last class, which gets them thinking, "what did we do?" and had them take out their composition notebooks where the information was collected, which shows then where they left off. I think the words Mrs. Howell chose when addressing the students really helped them understand what they were doing. Instead of standing in front of the class explaining each step, she gave a short introductory step, then let the students figure it out for themselves. She did not leave them to fend for themselves after, but walked around the class observing and interjecting when she thought necessary if the students were becoming distracted or loosing the idea of explaning the results. For the most part, no one went off track and students talked to eachother and figured out on their own how to explain the data. This was an example of a well-managed class. 7Class Topic:
General ScienceGrade:
7Observed by:
Beth Copeley